This invention relates to harmonicas.
A harmonica is a musical instrument having a number of reeds over a surface of which air is passed to cause the reeds to vibrate and emit musical sounds or notes.
In most harmonicas, air may be blown over the surface of a reed or sucked over the surface of another closely-adjacent reed to produce sounds of different pitch. Such harmonicas have been well known for many years and have lately been developed to produce music of various styles. The sounds produced may have to be amplified if used in a performance so that the sound may carry from, e.g. a stage area, to an audience.
In one type of amplifying system, a conventional moving-coil dynamic microphone is held in the musician""s hand behind the harmonica. This has been found to be very bulky and restrict the free area behind the harmonica, which in turn reduces the effect of the sound expanding out therefrom. Such microphones are also prone to substantial feedback problems, and are well known to amplify other unwanted sounds, such as breath noise.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a harmonica having an open rear surface from which sound is in use propagated, the harmonica comprising: a main body including a plurality of box-like cavities, a front edge including a plurality of holes, each being in communication with a respective one of the box-like cavities, and a rear edge; at least one reed disposed in each box-like cavity, each reed being fast at one end thereof to the body and free at the other end thereof such that the passage of air along one surface of any reed causes the reed to vibrate and produce a musical sound; and at least one microphone mounted to the rear edge of the body, the at least one microphone including a sensitive face and being mounted such that the sensitive face is oppositely directed to the open rear surface of the harmonica and in the same direction as the direction of sound propagation.
Preferably, the rear edge of the body includes a recess in which the at least one microphone is located.
Preferably, the harmonica comprises a plurality of microphones, each microphone having a frequency range closely related to that of the sound generated by the part of the harmonica on which the same is mounted.
This harmonica is not of bulky construction, allows for ready connection to an amplifying device, and is such as not to pick up extraneous noises.